Haywire looked at the power conduit that had run the length of the stairwell. Its top end had been crushed and the circuit was broken. All of the energy that had once been pumped up into the station proper, was now building up on itself inside the generators. It was the same thing his computer controls had been set to do, but now it was in its own chain reaction. They needed to move and fast.

The Demo Tech helped Longshot to his feet, even though he was still a bit wobbly himself, and again he repeated, "We have to go."

The strain was in his voice. Derecho never left a soldier behind, but now time was against them and soon the whole top and side of this mountain would be blown into the sky.

I am going to give everyone an opportunity to RP here, but we are not going to actually go round by round for your escape. It is going to come to a simple die roll per character. Each player may roll 1d20 (modifier due to wounds will apply) - any result of 1, 2, or 3 will result in the following:

less than 1 or 1 - sorry, your PC doesn't clear the distance and make it to cover. Still, he made it back into orbit. 2 - again, sorry, your PC is now part of the planet Plinth's atmosphere3 - you cleared the explosion, got to cover, but the pressure wave/fireball rolls over you. Roll 1d100 and apply damage, minus DR

Longshot had a great roll, but man! The damage rolled if he had failed was as bad as it could have been.

Have fun RP'ing this out - I will give narrative to bring the episode to a close, once we are done. We can check everyone's status and see if we want to move onto Team Derecho's next mission.

Posterboy, I hope the scene for Booth's exit was climactic enough. I knew I was bringing that wall down in the last round no matter what, but your post kind of gave me a reason for your PC to die. Your initiative order helped, too!

For any reason you are able to stay and continue playing with all of us, let me know and maybe we'll find a way that Booth escaped. If you can't stay any longer, than I want to say thanks! Your addition to our games has been awesome!

Her sensors reached out into the void and monitored the bandwidth of energies that came from stars, quasars, planets, and from a small relay station in particular on a planet some light years away. Suddenly, the relay station's broadcast disappeared and did not return.

"Captain Ballaard!" cried Lieutenant Kroviss, "The station is destroyed. Derecho was successful!"

Ballaard simply looked to his helmsman and nodded. An inter-fleet pre-determined message was quickly broadcast and the three Venator-class Star Destroyers jumped into hyperspace. In two other sectors, two other three-ship squadrons made their jumps. Soon, orbital bombardments would commence over the three CIS planets along the Braxant Run.

------------------------------------------

"It is done," said the hooded figure - his voice a crackling whisper. "Let them jump in and then we spring our own trap."

Darth Sidious smiled to himself. As long as he could play both sides against each other, eventually the will of the Republic would crumble and allow him to assert himself as the dominant ruler of the Galaxy.

deadpool

deadpool

If his teammastes could have seen through his helmet they would have seen the huge smile in Mitts face when Longshot came back to his senses. He had done it, he had saved him to fight another day, maybe even see the end of this war, find a life of his own, a real life, maybe they could all make it, maybe they could leave the army together and then...

The explosion stopped the medic's toughts.

He was now on all fours, struggling to stand up again. Everything around him was confusing. He couldn't hear anything but a buzz in his head. Longshot and Haywire were spinning around him. He was gesturing something. Mitts couldn't understand. He turned the other way, where the explosion came from. Martel and Hammer were standing there, looking straight at the tunnel. It was blocked by debris. Everything was fuzzy. Where was Booth? They had to get out of there.The clone managed to get on his feet, though he was a little tipsy. Slowly, he was able to understand the voices of his companions again. "We have to go!" yelled Haywire. Hammer kept shouting over his comlink, calling out for the seargent. "Where's Booth?!?!" screamed Mitts, suddenly realizing what was happening "We can't leave him!!" His voice was desperate.

"Get up and move!" shouted Martel. He shut his eyes a moment and cleared his mind, stretching out his senses. He couldn't tell if the life he sensed was his friend or his enemy on the other side of the rubble, but he knew that time wasn't on their side. Even if he could move all that rubble, they wouldn't make it out alive. "We're out of time.. run!"

Hammer stood and quickly took stock, he was still in one piece, but the Booth hadn't made it. He looked back up the stairs, his first thought was that he couldn't leave the sergeant behind but there was no way back. He could only hope that the roof had collapsed between them and that Booth could get out the other side. His orders were to lead the rest of the team out of the building back to their rally point.

"Follow Me!

And with that he ran for the door and checked outside to make sure that they were clear while the team came out behind him. Then covered them while they roped down to the plain and followed once they were on the ground.

deadpool

"No!" screamed Mitts at Hammer, but it was too late, he was already racing for the exit. Haywire was helping Longshot do the same and, for a moment, the medic was left facing the torn up wall, his rifle hanging loosely by his side. He was just paralyzed with indecision.

The demo specialist's hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality. "We have to go. You know it. We have to survive. For Booth.""For Booth." muttered the clone in response, lowering his head. They both started running. Mitts glanced at the seargent tomb once mor over his shoulder and then they were out.

Once outside of the facility, they scurried down one tier to another as quickly as their wounded and tired bodies would allow. Fear grew in them all, these clones who were produced but for one reason, to make war. But they were flesh and blood and in each was the human desire to fight and survive. Hammer led, Martel prodded them on with encouraging commands, and the others...prayed? Cursed? Begged for another day? They were men. Even though they were grown in a lab, in such a moment their minds all dealt with the chance of impending doom in their own unique way. It was how they knew that they were more than the battle droids they were pitted against - it was how they knew they were human.

The large, rocky hill labeled H on their maps, where Longshot had laid earlier providing overwatch, was their goal. It was far enough, and high enough to provide them with sufficient cover to survive the blast - at least, they hoped. The team rounded its southern side and all found whatever nook they could and hit the dirt. The clones trusted to their armors' environmental protection, while Martel drew again upon the Force to aid him.

BOOM!

The sound was deafening, even through the insulated helmets that the troopers wore. Then came the expanding hot air that raged like a hurricane around the hill, which protected them all. Finally, came the kick, as the energy of the explosion passed through the land literally lifting them off the ground. Those members of the team whom were brave enough to look watched as a massive fireball went up into the air, carrying with it tons of the mountain itself.

And then, it was over. What had seemed like an eternity of hell came to a quiet conclusion - the echoes of the explosion retreating like waves of water. Clumps of dirt and stone fell around them and dust filled the air. A huge cloud rose in a column, cooling once it reached the upper atmosphere and roiling out into a mushroom shape. Team Derecho all checked with one another to ascertain each person's well-being, and then slowly moved around Hill H to see what they had done.

The station, power generator, and most of the top of the mountain was gone. A blackened scorch mark covered the terrain and even some of the sand had been superheated to glass. It was done - they had shutdown the communication amplifier that kept the Braxant Run monitored for transiting ships. Haywire checked his comms, but his suit was totally fried. It was the same for the other team members. They had no way to report in - all they could do now was try and get back to the Arrow and get themselves away. Maybe they would get to their extraction point and get off this damned planet.

Martel gave a few commands and the team began the march back to where the armored speeder was left. Above them, Republic Star Destroyers jumped into the planetary system and began to bombard other CIS positions. Unfortunately, Sidious' trap was sprung on the attackers and what was to be a route became a stand off with neither side being able to claim a victory.

Feel free to add anymore dialogue and narrative that you would like - it all is great for the story. By the way, everyone's posts in these last two threads were awesome! It was a great read!

I would like all players to check in and let me know who is still here. Posterboy is leaving us due to real life needing his time, but if there are enough of Team Derecho left to continue, I will start laying the framework of your next mission. So, please reply here or in the next thread with your status.

Hammer took point on the way back to the Arrow, as he walked he though over his actions. He'd had no choice in what he'd done there at the end but he felt like it was his fault that they'd failed to bring Booth home. He didn't speak till they got back to the speeder, at least he could use their lack of comms and security as an excuse.

"We should wait here, Booth might have made it out the other way. If he did, we have to wait, give him time to make his way back. How long will it take to get to the extraction point?"

I'll be standing next to you when we turn the lights out. Until then, lets save the galaxy!

Humping it back to the speeder and out the extraction point, Martel could only think about his friend. The Jedi aren't supposed to form attachments but they are supposed to care, they are to remain apart but required to participate. "How in the twin suns of Tattoo supposed to go to war, to fight and to lead, without caring? Without becoming attached? How does that make us any better than the soulless machines that we're fighting?" Martel thinks. He looks around at the rest of his men. He sees the grim resolve to live, the agony of loss, and the anger at who's responsible for this. "Tonight, boys, we raise a glass to Booth and those others who have given the ultimate sacrifice, giving themselves to the Force, for their brothers and the Republic."

deadpool

As soon as they got to the Arrow, Mitts took off his helmet. His face was filled with sweat and dirt, his eyes empty. He looked at the helmet for a moment, the thing that made them even more faceles than they already were, what made them less human. He stared at the big black "eyes" of the visor in silence. Suddenly, he throw it away in anger, as far as he could. His medkit soon followed it and the clone screamed in anger and anguish at the sky. He didn't use any word, just a guttural shout. Then Mitts lowered his head and immersed himself deep into his thoughts. He didn't speak a word, not even as he mechanicaly checked the other's wounds as they waited for the extraction.

I'll stick around. It's been really fun and I want to keep going. In fact, I've talked to a couple of friends about this game and at least one has expressed interest in it if you feel like we need more people.

Quote from: deadpool on May 21, 2014, 09:48 amI'll stick around. It's been really fun and I want to keep going. In fact, I've talked to a couple of friends about this game and at least one has expressed interest in it if you feel like we need more people.

Sounds great! I have no problem replacing the three players that are leaving/have left - Zilfallion, Ayrn (Posterboy) and John (Callowmoryne). Now John still visits and I don't necessarily want to speak for him, but I think he is done - same with Zilfallion. If you guys are still interested in playing your PC's than give me a shout on the boards.

If not, we have two PC's that I'd like to keep in the team - Haywire and Longshot - so my preference is that a player steps in with these characters. With Booth's death, we can bring a third in to play, too. I have a guy interested in joining named disench4nted, so we could have the number needed.

I wanna wait to see if we get any feedback from the three players above. If Ayrn is wanting to stay, we will have to do an interesting re-write to explain Booth's survival. If John or Zil want to resume playing, I'd like to give them precedence. So, let's wait a few days to see what comes up.